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BPAL Madness!

Rheliwen

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Everything posted by Rheliwen

  1. Rheliwen

    Milk Moon 2007

    Oh sweet jesus, I want to eat this! In the bottle this smells like sweet cream with a hint of fig. I was chomping at the bit to try this one on. Once on this is like the a perfect pomegranate cream. The white grape and pomegranate lend a tartness that's reminiscent of blackberry, but much softer and smooth. The cream and fig swirl at the bottom, lofting up the pomegranate and grape. The honey in this really work for me (a first). I can smell it mostly with the grape. There's definitely a trace of the old Milk Moon in here. The cream is a little sour. It is offset by the sweet grape and honey though and creates a perfect combo. This version is definitely the superior of the two, in my opinion. This is a playful, creamy, dancing on a cloud type blend. I haven't found any scents lately that I want multiple bottles of, but this one has broken the cycle! Edited to add that the drydown is a lot like Eden. Sweeter and less bitter however.
  2. Rheliwen

    Monster Bait: biggerCritters

    This has a real citrus zing, reminiscent of the bases for the 13 blends but grapefruit and not orange. It's like pink grapefruit dipped in white chocolate. The vanilla is a wonderful creamy antique lace-y backdrop to the tart grapefruit. In the middle we have the florals. They are a little sharp because of the grapefruit but smell heavenly. Moroccan jasmine is nothing like the regular jasmine everyone hates...it works for me. It's sweeter and less cloying than regular jasmine. I wish more people would give it a try but I digress... This is a wonderful blend and is almost edible. People who like tart, grapefruit blends like Hungry Ghost Moon will like this one, you will need to like vanilla though.
  3. Rheliwen

    Vipralabda

    Mmmm...rich Indian incense. The benzoin is rich and resiny and reminds me of smelling the amber chunks you used to get in lockets at the hippy nature stores. This is a rich, slightly green resiny blend. Like moist incense. And it only gets better with time. It sweetens up a bit with the sage and hay. The chamomile gives this a soothing base and the oakmoss lends some earthy creaminess. If you like incense/resin blends you'll like this one. Midnight Mass lovers will like it. Others have mentioned that this really isn't a wearing scent but I really like it as a perfume. It reminds me a lot of the incense in this one Moroccan restaurant I used to go to.
  4. Rheliwen

    Ostara

    Hmm, not quite as sweet as I was expecting. I mostly get citrus daffodil. It's really mellow and sligtly soapy. This one is really weird on me. I don't think the orris of frankincense are working for me here. They are doing funky things with the citrus and making it really bitter. I'm going to have to work with this one a bit. It smells lovely. I just don't know if it was meant for my skin.
  5. Rheliwen

    Yesterday was fine

    Almonds, pistachios, peanuts are all good snacks. Celery and peanut butter (natural, no Jiffy kind of stuff) is also a great snack, as is string cheese. If you want sweet go for sugar free jello snack cups.
  6. Rheliwen

    Crow Moon

    Crow Moon is fantastic!!!! I can't remember smelling a BPAL like this before. Right on the skin all I could think of was it smelled like dry grasses and sweet hay. For some reason I really like the smell of hay (after visiting CB and sniffing his). It sweetens up when dry but I have no idea what I am smelling. I do detect some woods in the background that smell like really light cedar (I amp cedar and it's happening here too but not as much as it usually does). It's spring green and fresh without being fresh in a citrusy or linen way. I am unfamiliar with the florals in here but they are sweet and not cloying at all. Love!!! ADD: I put it on today and now it has a vibrant cucumbery vibe in the wet stage. Kind of like those Ponds cucumber eye pads.
  7. Rheliwen

    The Oblation

    Freshly applied there's a blast of tart, slightly bitter blackberry and a heavy dose of lavender. Dry, the lavender has receded (did I see a pig fly outside my window??) and I'm left with straight blackberry. The berry is a really fresh scent, like the fruit is alive in its vibrancy. It reminds me of picking blackberries along the roads in Seattle where they grow like weeds
  8. Rheliwen

    Western Diamondback

    Quincey Morris (a little drier Dead Man's Hand) leather is the first note I smell. I detect the snake oil in the background but it's pretty subtle. dry, the snake oil is much more prominent and playing an equal role to the leather. I love this.
  9. Rheliwen

    Faiza, the Black Mamba (2006)

    A sensual blend of twisting, exotic, serpentine oils: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. Hmm... I can't decide if I like this yet. Initially on it has a sharp bamboo/citrus quality along with dry woods. Not really into the citrus thing. As it dries down some fuzzy green notes start to pop along with some pulpy florals. The drydown phase is so much more pleasant. It's not the most tropical BPAL scent I've tried but it is vibrant and different. The florals are really muted. They lend their tartness only. The green notes smell like a just broken off baby branch. Overall I think I like this as long as I can tell my brain to stop smelling bamboo (cause I hates bamboo )
  10. Rheliwen

    Antonino, The Carny Talker

    I smelled this at a MnS a couple of months ago and was really intrigued despite my dreaded vetiver being listed in the note description. I hesitated to try it out for the longest time until and transaction placed an imp in my lap. I have to say that I am going to have to re-evaluate my distaste for vetiver. I can really get to like it in small, light doses like it is represented here. Immediately on my skin I almost get a fizzy cola vibe from it. The fizz is most definitely from the interaction between the powdery lavender and verbena. I really like it in this stage. As it dried the verbena really kicks it up a notch and threatens to ruin the blend for me. However, I think the plum, musk and vetiver have teamed up against the little guy. I don't get much coconut and fig other than an unstated creaminess, a roundess if you will. Figs are so hard to describe but if you've ever eaten one and love the texture and really subtle taste then you'll know how its playing in this scent. Overall I really like this and am glad I'm stepping outside my comfort zone. Perfumed Garden proved to me that jasmine can be nice. Antonino proved the same for vetiver.
  11. Rheliwen

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    ROFL. I have a tendency to do that sometimes (I really can read, I promise), you can trout me. We'll definitely have to wait patiently for the bottles but I'm sure they'll be just as beautiful as usual. Perhaps some will call people can shed some light on the subject.
  12. Rheliwen

    What do bottles and labels look like?

    Nevermind. I apparently cannot read.
  13. Rheliwen

    Lick It Again

    I'm not a huge foody person. I enjoy them but I at the end of the day they get swapped. So I never looked into Lick It Again. But then I won a bottle in the snowflake contest and tried it on yesterday...and I really like it! It starts with a blast of nose-clearing peppermint but within 5 seconds dies down to a really true candy cane scent. I found myself cursing the boy for throwing out the xmas candy canes this past weekend because this scent gave me some major candy cravings. The dry down is a beautiful, creamy, musky vanilla that really reminds me of the dry down of le fee verte minus the citrusy absinthe note. I found myself discreetly trying to sniff my wrists during class last night. I think my professor thought I was weird because he kept looking at me after I'd take a whiff.
  14. I found that Horreur Sympathique is very similar to Purple Phoenix but you aren't going to get the wonderful Myrrh/resin/woody/violet depth in HS that you get in PP. HS is purple, but lighter and not as moody. Perhaps layering it with something else can add the extra depth missing to make it a true PP equivalent.
  15. Rheliwen

    Quincey Morris

    In a last minute panic I picked this up. If the pear was subtle it would work on the boy and if the pear was pronounced it would work for me. It works for me. It's the leather from Dead Man's Hand for sure (yay!) with a juicy pear overtone. The pear does die away in the drydown but overall it gives this blend a nice softness and character.
  16. Rheliwen

    Purple Phoenix

    This initially goes on as a sticky grape popsicle. As it begins to dry the myrrh really starts to pop making this a deep and sinister little popsicle. The violet is most prominent in the dry stage but all the other notes manage to keep it in check. There's also a woodsy note I detect way down there. This is wonderful. I've had real misses with the wine scents, but this is not one of them.
  17. Rheliwen

    Midnight on the Midway (2006)

    This smells like antique lace meets nag champa with a slight more floral quality. I really like this. The floral is ripe (almost in a fruity way) and sweet. It isn't cloying or heady at all. It does get a little soapy but remains sweet and incensey at the same time. I smell night-blooming jasmine, not jasmine jasmine and some other night florals in here...very lovely!
  18. Rheliwen

    The Carpathian Mountains

    Carpathian Mountains is teetering on the gorgeous ledge. I didn't quite believe all the ben-gay stuff since many people associate weirds scents with things others don't. But it's totally there! If that one single note was gone this would be fantastic! It might actually be the raspberry leaf mixing with the juniper and moss. It's bitter. Dry, that note is more subdued and the raspberry note itself comes to the front and now I have sweet berry and floral with a light green background. That note is still there but I can almost ognore it. LOVE ME Carpathian Mountains...LOVE ME!!!! It loves me! The bitter note is gone and now it's all yummy raspberry florals, almost carnationy!
  19. Rheliwen

    Knecht Ruprecht

    I could smell the almond and pine in the bottle the most and it smelled like that initially onmy skin. As it started to dry the apple got really juicy and almond sort of retreated a bit. I'm left with a perfect balance of woods, apple and almond. It's not as piney as I expected it to be. It's not in your face, high in the nose woods.
  20. Rheliwen

    Pontarlier

    My heart sank when I put this on at first. All I got was astringent ferns. I was looking for the perfect lilac as it's my favorite floral. BUT!... As I was walking down the stairs I smelled it again and stopped in my tracks...I smelled lilac, sweet, delicious lilac! It's a little subdued, but I love it now...yay!
  21. Rheliwen

    Ochosi

    This is really light. Wet it's a sweet, subtle herb scent. On the drydown it turns into a sweet, creamy pencil shaving (did we figure out this is redwood?)...but I like that! It sort of reminds me the way Sanrio erasers smell! Holy crap it does!
  22. Rheliwen

    Jólasveinar

    Hmm, this one smells nice and the boy really likes it but it was not what I was expecting. It goes on all pine and it takes about an hour to start smelling the flowers. At no point do I get the pastry smell. It reminds me of Snow Bunny and Skadi a lot on the drydown, but in the intermediate stages it reminded me of Ice Queen a lot. I'm going to have to stew on this one as I really wanted moss, dirt and pastries. It's a wonderful blend though so I'll have to divorce myself from my expectations and go from there. I tried this on again last night but only put a whee bit on in an attempt to soften the piney aspect of it. It worked! I could actually smell the florals and moss. There was never a prominent dirt note and the pastries still never showed up. If I keep it I will remember to not slather
  23. Rheliwen

    Thirteen (13): October 2006

    It does smell reminiscent of Underpants, with some orange thrown in. It's powdery from the sandalwood, cocoa bean and lavender (which is only a distant memory), sweet from the vanilla and orange, and a little spicey from the nutmeg. This is far better than the initial 13, which I also liked.
  24. Rheliwen

    My problem(s) with Heaven & Earth Essentials

    Would you accept a company coming here to look at the purchase history or people, what they bought, why, when, etc? That market research borders on privacy issues and is not available anywhere else unless a personal survey was conducted. I personally don't feel comfortable with other companies coming here to look at what people have ordered and what types of things they expect or want out of future perfume. If a company wants info on the latter, they better get the info themselves. And just to clarify: capitalism does not = shady and underhanded practices nor should anyone feel that because these practices exist that we should somehow take them as a given and accept them. Capitalism is about maximizing the individual which will benefit the whole. Sure, shady practices could fall into this, but they don't have to. If you really want to talk capitalism, this backlash towards the underhanded market research aspect as well as the policy againt the research here is an attempt at the system to correct a wrong, and therefore an important part of a functioning capitalist economy. Capitalism does not support bad business practices in the long term. It's hard to visualize this in the real world as no country is capitalist (including the United States)...but I digress... Anyways, I think this tangent into the market research aspect is distorting the argument as the main issue with H&E is not this but specific other broken rules...like the dupe account, lying, etc. I think people are starting to forget that.
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